This invention relates to coupling assemblies for connecting a tractor to a trailer or farm implement.
In prior Canadian patent No. 833,429, dated Feb. 3rd, 1970, and granted to the applicant herein, there is disclosed a coupling assembly comprising a body having an upwardly and forwardly inclined opening formed therein and adapted to receive a ball, the ball forming part of a trailer hitch assembly, the body having a sloping, longitudinally extending ramp or runway formed on the rear portion thereof and adapted to facilitate vertical and horizontal alignment of the ball with the mouth of the opening during coupling of the ball with the body, and means associated with the body to prevent unintentional disengagement of the ball from the body.
The coupling assembly described in the aforementioned patent is intended for heavy duty use, for example, for coupling a heavy agricultural implement to a tractor. While the coupling assembly described in the above patent is effective, it nonetheless requires a number of manual operations for successful operation, so that, for example, the operator of the machinery has to physically remove a ball on a trailer tongue from the coupling assembly. The present invention seeks to improve on the arrangement disclosed in the above prior patent by providing for substantially automatic coupling and decoupling of a trailer and a tractor, especially useful in situations where the implements and the parts thereof are heavy and difficult for a person to manipulate without mechanical assistance.